Author: Chakhmakhchian Vatche

THE FRENCH “PUT FIRE” INTO THE SUNDUKYAN THEATRE

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| 12:32:17 | 03-06-2005 | Social |

Yesterday at about 09:00 – 09:15 p.m. the Theater after Sundukyan
sent a fire alarm. 3 fire fighting cars arrived at the place of
incident. One of the workers of the theater told that there was a
terrible smoke inside the building. “We checked every room, there
was no fire, but we decided to call the fire brigade”, he said.

One of the fire fighters climbed up the 4th floor. Some 15 minutes
later he told his co-workers from the 4th floor window that the alarm
was false. What had happened? One of the workers of the French Embassy
had entered the building and informed that perhaps the smoke was from
the fire burnt near the Embassy building. And really it was that.

This all they do to hegemonize the oil resources, writes Rafeeq A.Naqash

GreaterKashmir.com (press release), India
June 1 2005

Since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the vast oil deposits
beneath the Caspian Sea have made the regions of Georgia and Azerbaijan
the focus of heated interest. The United States sees the region as an
alternative source of energy, Russia regards it as its own strategic
reserve, other countries – Iran, Turkey, even China – have a stake
in control of the oil, where it goes, and how. They call it “The
Great Game” – a reference to the rivalry between Imperial Russia and
the British Empire over influence in Central Asia at the end of the
19th century. This time the stakes are just as high – control over
the vast deposits of crude oil beneath the Caspian Sea but there are
more players.

The United States (and the West) is taking a keen interest in the
region as an alternative source of energy supply for the next century.

Russia has long regarded the Caspian as its strategic reserve and
Moscow does not take kindly to the prospect of the once-Soviet states
which actually sit on the oil drilling their way to real economic
independence.

Iran is keenly interested both in becoming a player itself and in
keeping the United States from dominating its back yard to the North.

Turkey desperately seeks a sphere of influence of its own after being
effectively locked out of the European Union.

Even China, the new giant Tiger to the East, has indicated interest.

At the center of it all is Caspian Sea, and Azerbaijan is booming. A
London-based think-tank recently estimated there are 68 billion
barrels of crude beneath the Caspian in ‘proven’ reserves. The latest
US. government estimate puts reserves at over 100 billion barrels,
worth approximately $2 trillion at current prices.

Whatever the true value of Caspian oil, the rumor of riches has
attracted an a large number of entrepreneurs including international
oil giants, as well as a host of subcontractors interested in getting
their own piece of the oily action. Azerbaijan is the centre of the
entire effort. The various oil companies have pledged to invest over
$25 billion in Azerbaijan by completion in 2004. There is no question
that Azerbaijan is going to be the wealthiest country in the region
in ten years owing to its oil reservoirs.

But paradox is that the Oil won’t really come on line until 2005 if
everything proceeds according to plan. Nor is it possible to know the
true cost of the pipeline. Because clouds of uncertainty are hovering
over the construction of pipeline. Even the routing of the “early oil,”
a line that goes through Russia — but it also goes through Chechnya,
which is still struggling with Moscow. Another possibility is to go
through Georgia to a new terminal on the Black Sea. The most of all
options goes straight South over Iran to the Persian Gulf.

That is not only the shortest route, but also the most secure –
petroleum is so cheap in Iran there is no temptation to drill into the
line, as is currently the practice in Chechnya (and was in Georgia).

The problem is that US companies could not participate without
violating the Iran-Libya Sanctions Act (ILSA). And there are questions
about continued stability in Azerbaijan itself. Most worrisome is
the ongoing stalemate with Armenia to the west over the disputed
territory of Nagorno Karabakh, where ethnic Armenians have declared
their independence from Azerbaijan.

(The Author is Research Scholar Deptt. CCAS, University of Kashmir)

PRIME MINISTER RECEIVES ASTRAKHAN GOVERNOR
[May 31, 2005, 22:34:47]

AzerTag, Azerbaijan
May 31 2005

Visiting delegation of Astrakhan oblast of the Russian Federation
led by Governor Alexander Zhilkin was received by Prime Minister of
Azerbaijan Artur Rasizade, May 31.

The Governor concrete offers on expanding ties with Azerbaijan in
the spheres of ships building and repair, transport, production of
bio-resources in the Caspian, trade of vegetables and fruits. The
North Caucasus Shipping Company is ready to open ferry connection
with Baku, while the Astrakhan side is able to provide delivery of
goods from Azerbaijan to all destinations in Russia, he said.

Prime Minister Artur Rasizade told of the successful economic reforms
implemented in Azerbaijan, yearly growth of the country’s GDP and the
work being done to improve people’s welfare. He also touched upon the
Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh, which according to
the Minister seriously impedes economic progress. Problems of almost
million refugees are what the Government must solve first of all,
he said. Mr. Rasizade expressed readiness of Azerbaijan for close
mutually beneficial cooperation with Astrakhan oblast of Russia.

The parties have also discussed a number of other issues of mutual
interest.

NEXT MEETING OF FA MINISTERS OF AZERBAIJAN AND ARMENIA TO TAKE PLACE ON JUNE
2005-05-30 20:57

Azerbaijan News Service
May 30 2005

The official of FAM valued the meeting between Ilham Aliyev and Robert
Kocharyan taken place in the frame of the Warsaw summit as a positive
and important step: “After that meeting, the presidents offered
the co-chairmen to continue the discussions, to organize meeting
between the foreign affairs minister in a short period, as well as
to plan the meeting of the presidents as in case of possibility. The
co-chairmen have already been to Baku, they are in Yerevan at present,
and the meeting of the leaders of FAM is planned to take place in the
middle of June. The next visit of the co-chairmen to the region will
be realized on July”. Araz Azimov refused to give a new explanation
about the negotiations to media. He only explained the situation of
Azerbaijan in solving the problem. “The problem can be solved only
in the result of releasing the occupied territories, Azerbaijan will
create normal conditions for the Armenians living in Garabagh, normal
relations will be established between the Azerbaijanis to return
there and Armenian population, and the relations of Azerbaijan and
Armenia will be normalized”. According to the words of Araz Azimov,
such approach conformed to the international experience, that
experience had been used when solving the conflicts in Europe. “In
order to achieve this, the present situation must be eliminated, the
territories must be cleared from mines, and the communications must
be restored. This process requires a great effort and initiative. We
are the neighbors and we can not hide away this reality”. Araz Azimov
answering the questions of the journalists said that the problem of
liberating of 7 regions was on the topical subject and that problem
would be able to be solved at the next stage. The deputy-minister
answering the question about establishing the Russian military bases
withdrawn from Georgia in Armenia valued that action as a potential
danger for Azerbaijan. “No one will guarantee that whether the weapons
will be placed in Russian military bases or in the Azerbaijani lands
being under control of Armenia”.

Institute on the Holocaust and Genocide, Jerusalem
Prof. Israel Charny, Executive Director
Prof. Yair Auron, Associate Director
Marc Sherman, M.L.S., Assistant Director
Contact: P.0.B. 10311 91102 Jerusalem, Israel
TEL/FAX: 011-972-2672-0424 phone/fax

Email: [email protected]

PRESS RELEASE MAY 30, 2005

The Institute on the Holocaust and Genocide in Jerusalem, Israel
protests the Turkish Government’s cancellation of an important
scholarly conference on “the Armenian question” sponsored by a
consortium of Turkish universities, which was to have been conducted
in Turkish at one of the universities with an expected attendance of
more than 700 registrants.

The program titles of many of the presentations made it very clear that
many of the scholars addressing the conference intended to recognize
the historical validity of what is known in history in the free world
as “the Armenian Genocide.”

They were going to do so despite the fact that current Turkish law
prescribes jail sentences of several years for statements either
about the Armenian Genocide or calling for Turkey withdrawing from
Cypress. These speakers are loyal Turks who love their country and
want to see it advance and grow. Several of them have written about
the importance for Turkey itself to achieve a free society, with
guaranteed academic freedom, freedom of speech, and freedom of ideas;
and thus also for Turkey to demonstrate its readiness to be accepted
in the European Union.

Our Institute on the Holocaust and Genocide in Jerusalem was perhaps
the first in the world to hold an interdisciplinary, multiple ethnic
conference on the genocides of all peoples when we convened the “First
International Conference on the Holocaust and Genocide” in 1982.
Six lectures out of a total of 300 at our conference were scheduled
to deal with the Armenian Genocide. As reported in many stories in
the New York Times and other world press, Turkey pressured Israel
to remove these six lectures, the government of Israel shamefully
complied, and when we refused to do so the government attempted with
considerable use of government powers to close our conference down
entirely. Fortunately, even when Israel errs, it is overall a genuine
democracy, and our insistence on holding the conference including the
lectures on the Armenian Genocide could not be broken. The process
of our resistance and success has been honored many times in articles
and books by many writers ever since (for example, in the Yale Review).

The Institute on the Holocaust and Genocide calls on all governments
of the world to strive for a high level of accuracy, objectivity and
transparency about genocidal massacres and genocides, including by
its own peoples for many of our peoples in our shared Earth-world
have committed genocidal atrocities against others. In the long run,
the goal of human life, and all government, should be to protect
human lives more and more.

Institute on the Holocaust and Genocide, Jerusalem

Prof. Israel Charny, Executive Director
Prof. Yair Auron, Associate Director
Marc Sherman, M.L.S., Assistant Director

####

Azeri soldier killed by Armenian sniper – TV

Space TV, Baku
31 May 05

[Presenter] An Azerbaijani soldier has been killed by Armenian sniper
fire in Tartar’s Qapanli village, Space TV’s Karabakh correspondent
has reported. Our regional correspondent has more.

[Correspondent by phone] Armenians violated the cease-fire in the
Agdam and Tartar sections of the front-line earlier today.

[Passage omitted: minor details]

Junior Sergeant Xalilov Cafar, 20, was martyred at 1145 [0645]
near the Qapanli village of Tartar District. He was drafted into the
army by the Massalli District military enlistment office. He will be
buried tomorrow.

Handel
by Hugh Canning

Sunday Times (London)
May 29, 2005, Sunday

HANDEL. Partenope. Early Opera Company, cond Christian Curnyn.
Chandos Chaconne CHAN0719 3 (3 CDs) ****

This opera, unveiled at the King’s Theatre, Haymarket, in 1730, was
one of the first by Handel to enjoy a stylish, “historically
informed” performance on disc, with countertenors in the
alto-castrato and travesty parts and period instruments in the
orchestra. Even if it doesn’t make it into the top 10 of Handel’s
“serious” operas, this witty, ironic account of the amorous exploits
of the founding queen of Naples (Partenope) has hardly a dull moment.
Here, to a libretto written for Naples by Silvio Stampiglia, we find
Handel experimenting with the lighter-hearted style that was to
culminate in his 1738 masterpiece, Serse (Xerxes). Partenope and her
preferred lover, Arsace, sing music of rapt beauty and dazzling
bravura, while the part of the Cypriot princess Rosmira, disguised as
the Armenian prince Eurimene, has a show-stopping “hunting” number
with obbligato horns. These parts are superbly sung by Rosemary
Joshua (above), Lawrence Zazzo and Hilary Summers respectively, and
Kurt Streit is a fine Emilio. The cast has no weak links, and Curnyn
directs a performance devoid of the mannerisms and quirks of some Handelians.

RUSSIAN MILITARY BASES TO BE WITHDRAWN FROM GEORGIA IN 2008 – FOREIGN MINISTER LAVROV
16:38

RIA Novosti, Russia
May 30 2005

MOSCOW, May 30 (RIA Novosti) – The withdrawal of the Russian military
bases from Georgia will be completed within 2008, Russian Foreign
Minister Sergei Lavrov said following the talks with his Georgian
counterpart Salome Zurabishvili. The ministers signed a joint
statement regulating bilateral relations after their talks in Moscow.
“The withdrawal of the Russian military bases from Akhalkalaki and
Batumi is the key issue of the statement,” Lavrov said. “Military
hardware and personnel will be withdrawn at first. After that, Russia
will hand its military facilities to Georgia,” he added. There are
two Russian military bases in Georgia today – in Batumi (Adzharia)
and Akhalkalaki (on the Georgian-Armenian border).

The decision on their pullout was made at the OSCE (Organization for
Security and Cooperation in Europe) summit in Istanbul in 1999. The
pullout terms became a stumbling block in Russian-Georgian relations.
The Russian Defense Ministry planned to withdraw troops no sooner
than in 3-4 years. The Georgian side insisted that it should be done
by January 1, 2008.

ALL OSCE MG CO-CHAIRS TO MEET WITH ARMENIAN AND AZERI FMs IN MID JUNE

YEREVAN, MAY 27. ARMINFO. In mid June all the OSCE Minsk Group
co-chairs will meet with the Armenian and Azeri FMs, Radio Liberty
reports the French co-chairs Bernard Fassier as saying in baku today.

He said that during their last meeting in Warsaw the Armenian and
Azeri presidents pointed out certain progress in the Karabakh peace
talks this marking the acceleration of the Karabakh peace process.
The progress is in two directions: the withdrawal of Armenian forces
from the territories around Nagorno Karabakh republic and the
determination of the future status of Karabakh. Fassier said that the
presidents also outlined the key directions of the forthcoming talks.

He said that the co-chairs will meet with Armenia’s FM Vardan Oskanyan
in early June.

United Press International
May 26 2005

Officials inaugurate U.S.-backed pipeline

By Andrea R. Mihailescu May 26, 2005, 13:10 GMT

WASHINGTON, DC, United States (UPI) — Officials Wednesday began
filling the U.S.-backed $3.6 billion Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline
transporting Caspian crude to western markets.

Leaders from Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Georgia and Turkey inaugurated
the pipeline at the opening ceremony at an oil terminal near the
Azeri capital of Baku. Despite opposition to the pipeline, a few
Russian representatives were present at the ceremony.

The pipeline received opposition from many. Opposing any route that
would bypass Russian territory, Russians unsuccessfully lobbied for
their own pipeline route passing through Chechnya and Novorossiysk.

Iran also expressed its dissatisfaction with the pipeline as it
sought its own territory as the optimum route for the passage of
Caspian oil.

For Arab monarchies, an alternative source of energy resources on the
global market was a serious blow.

“We have managed to do this. We have done it,” Azeri President Ilham
Aliyev said during the opening ceremony. “Some people didn`t think it
was possible, some treated the project with suspicion, while others
even wanted to impede this. But none of these worked. Thanks to our
friends and neighbors — the union of Turkey, Azerbaijan and Georgia
— the assistance of the U.S. to the project … ”

Although the 1,100-mile pipeline may alleviate some western
dependence on Middle East oil, the BTC faces a number of security
challenges. One of the major challenges is the potential escalation
over Nagorno Karabakh, which was overtaken by ethnic Armenian
separatists over a decade ago. Other issues include possible crime
along the BTC`s route such as local tapping into the pipeline or
environmentalists attack it.

In August, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey will conduct joint
exercises in an effort to ensure the security of the pipeline,
according to the Georgian defense ministry. The militaries of the
three countries will receive training on how to prevent terror
attacks, acts of sabotage and environmental catastrophes along the
pipeline route. In case of sabotage or an environmental catastrophe
on the territory of either of the transit countries, the military of
the other two countries will provide assistance.

“Longstanding U.S. policy has been that the governments of the region
are responsible for the security of the pipelines on their
territory,” Steven Mann, senior U.S. official responsible for Caspian
pipelines, told UPI. “The United States can provide training and
advice, but pipeline security is a national responsibility.”

Georgia hired the Northrop Group to develop an aerial monitoring
system along the pipeline`s route and its adjacent area. Georgia
received radar systems similar to those the U.S. currently uses in
Afghanistan, according to Giorgi Chanturia, president of the Georgian
International Oil Corporation.

The pipeline has a capacity to transport approximately 50 million
tons annually. Currently standing at 95 percent completion, it will
take 10 million barrels to fill the pipeline before pumping can
begin. Under the agreement, the pipeline project is supposed to be
completed in the first six months of 2005. For each day late,
contractors would have to pay a fine of $500,000.

Energy experts believe the pipeline contains the world`s
third-largest oil and gas reserves.